Guillermo opened the back door so Jonathan and Emalynn could climb in. Roger jumped in next to them. After shutting the back door, Guillermo took one quick look around at the bodies that continued to move closer. He sat in the front seat and closed the door behind them.
Emalynn continued to cry and mumble that they should have left her behind. Blood ran down her leg turning her tan flip flop red. Jonathan knew this wouldn"t end well for any of the group. He noticed that even Roger was holding back tears. He had always thought Roger to be emotionless, yet he was clearly disheartened by the imminent loss of this young woman.
"Who is watching the gate?" Guillermo asked in a panic.
"It"s all good, mate. Sophia closed it behind me," Deacon a.s.sured. "We are going to take a short detour. I know we don"t have time for it," he added as he turned to Jonathan. "But it"s the only way we can clear the road out from in front of your place to get back in."
Jonathan nodded his understanding and went back to talking quietly to Emalynn. He ran his fingers through her brown hair as she rested her head on his shoulder. Even clumped with blood, her hair was as smooth as it usually looked. Her skin was very warm. Jonathan could tell she was running a fever.
They drove up and down the streets for about five minutes before Deacon headed back toward the house. Deacon slowed down as he pa.s.sed by the gate so he could signal to Sophia. He stopped, backed the BMW up, and waited for the gate to open.
"Come on," Deacon urged under his breath as the gate moved slowly open.
"s.h.i.t," Roger exclaimed. "They are moving around the wall. We have to move."
"It"s too late. The gate is open too far," Guillermo pointed out.
With the gate finally open enough to fit the car through, Deacon hit the gas. The car took off effortlessly and pa.s.sed quickly through the opening. Once through, he slowed down again, but he didn"t stop the car.
Guillermo and Roger both jumped from the moving vehicle and turned to the gate with their own weapons drawn. Deacon pulled into the garage and ran back down the driveway to hold off the undead while Jonathan carried Emalynn into the house.
Sophia watched eagerly for the gate to open fully so she could shut it. "This has got to be the dumbest gate!" She hollered down the driveway. With the gate fully opened, she hit the b.u.t.ton to close it. As it began to shut, she grabbed her rifle and ran down to help Deacon.
Two dozen fiends made it past the gate before it had shut. Roger and Guillermo took on the ones that were further apart from the rest of the horde. Deacon and Sophia fired into the larger group, not taking the time to aim, yet they fired high enough for the rounds to tear through the skulls of their attackers. They had to gradually step back toward the house as the horde moved in closer.
By the time they had reached the garage the last fiend fell. More stood at the gate, shaking it violently in an attempt to break it down, but the gate held strong. Bodies lay scattered throughout the driveway and the front yard where Roger and Guillermo led them off to make it easier to take them out with their melee weapons.
"Should we go in? Or leave them be for now?" Deacon had asked, understanding what would soon happen.
"I need to talk to her. Then I will be out to help clean this mess up," Roger stated, and he walked through the garage and into the house.
Guillermo and Deacon grabbed some work gloves from the garage and started dragging the bodies toward the wall. Some of the bodies were lighter than they had looked. The muscle and bone was so fragile that legs were pulled free of the hips, held together only by the thin layer of skin that remained.
Sophia went inside to sit with the twins, who were watching a SpongeBob SquarePants DVD. She tried to put on her "brave face" so the kids wouldn"t know right away that something was wrong, yet kids always knew. Although adults think they can hide the truth from children, somehow they can sense it.
Roger walked slowly down the hall, unsure of which room Jonathan had taken Emalynn to. "How is she?" He asked as he found the two in Jonathan"s room. Emalynn was lying on the bed while Jonathan brought her wet washcloths and pain killers. He had bandaged her leg quickly, but they all knew it would not matter.
"She is awake and in pain."
"Hi, Roger," she said, her voice hoa.r.s.e from screaming. She looked up at Roger with dry, graying eyes. She has known Roger for a long time, so even on her deathbed she had a sound of confusion and concern in her voice.
Roger began to cry. Jonathan thought about giving them some time alone, but thought better of it. He found it hard to trust this man. There seemed to be no telling what he was thinking. He didn"t care when Bradley and Tyson were killed, yet he was distraught now.
"You know, I wanted to protect you. I wasn"t able to protect my own family. My children, my wife, they are out there somewhere." He put his face in his hands as he started crying harder. "There was nothing I could do for them, and I wasn"t there for you when you needed me to be," Before she could respond, he rose to his feet and left the room.
"I don"t understand that man," Emalynn said forcing a smile. She reached up to touch Jonathan"s face. "I"ve seen what happens to people after they"ve been attacked like this. I only wish we had more time."
"Do not talk like that Ema. We will have all the time in the world."
"Don"t be stupid Jon. You know as well as I do what is happening to me. I made a mistake. He looked ok out there in the street," she said, referring to Bradley. "But I was stupid. I ran after him, when I had you right here," She started to cry, but she didn"t seem sad about her short life coming to an end.
"I was stupid Ema, not you. You are amazing, and I let you slip away." He bent down and kissed her on the lips softly. "Can I ask you a horrible question?"
"Of course," she replied. Her loving smile and sad eyes confused Jonathan emotionally.
"How does it feel? What are your symptoms?"
"That is horrible," she laughed a raspy laugh, "but that is the scientist in you. My head hurts more than my leg does. I feel like my brain will burst through my skull at any moment. I can feel my blood burning in my body, too. My muscles are tightening an-."
"That is enough, please. I am so sorry," Jonathan could no longer hold back. He laid his head down on her chest and cried until he fell asleep. He had focused too much on saving the world, and now he just lost his chance at love.
Outside, Roger packed as much as he could carry while still packing as light as possible. He took down his small tent and packed it, as well. His plan was extreme survival out in a hostile world. He evolved from a caring husband and father to a heartless survivor in heartless times, and then evolved back to a caring father of a young woman who wasn"t his. Like any good father, he was willing to kill to protect his children.
"Where are you going?" Guillermo asked. He wasn"t really concerned or sad to see him go, just curious.
"I have to leave." He turned to Guillermo; his face was that of a broken man. "I think you know why."
"You killed them, didn"t you?"
"The boy wasn"t supposed to be there. Believe me on that, please. I thought I could protect her better than he could. I thought he was going to get us all killed. As it turns out, the dark place I was in blinded me of reason. I know you hate me, and I don"t deserve any better. I"m leaving, it will be my burden to carry, until I"m killed out there." Roger nodded off toward the world past the wall.
As soon as Roger had confessed, Guillermo"s knuckles turned white as he clenched them tightly. It took all of his strength to not attack the man. Visions of cutting him into pieces filled his head, but he knew a death on the street at the hands of the dead would be worse than what he could do to him. "You son of a b.i.t.c.h," Guillermo declared, and he turned to walk away.
"Give me a second to explain, please," Roger begged. "I don"t deserve your forgiveness. I don"t deserve anyone"s, but I listened to my wife die!"
Guillermo stopped. He wanted to keep walking, to let Roger leave the safety of this place. Being torn to pieces may still be too easy of a punishment for the man, yet Guillermo now felt sorry for him. He turned to Roger and waved for him to continue.
"It was the day of the attack. The moment I realized that what was taking place was serious, I called my wife. She had been trying to reach me for most of the morning, but I was busy trying to keep us on the air." Roger choked up as he spoke.
"Our youngest daughter was taken right out of her hands. Luckily she couldn"t see the gruesome sight, but she had to hear her screams. She managed to fight off a small pack of fiends and get our older two children out of there." The tears began to roll down his face.
"I"m sorry to hear that," Guillermo"s throat was tight.
"By the time I called her, she had already been bitten. As she picked up the phone she was screaming at the other two children. She told them to run as fast as they could. The screams that followed were all I needed to hear to know they hadn"t made it very far. I tried to tell her that I loved her, but I don"t know if she could hear me over her own screams."
Guillermo turned away from the man to wipe away his own tears. "I can"t imagine how that must feel," he forced the words out while attempting to hold in his sobs.
"This world can take someone as weak as I am and turn them into something wicked. I will spend the rest of my time alone."
Guillermo held his hand out to Roger, who shook it. "Good luck out there. I hope you find redemption. I am sorry, though. At this time, I cannot forgive you, but I truly do hope you find peace."
"Thanks," Roger said with a thin smile, and without another word, he turned and walked toward the wall. He placed the ladder up, climbed to the top, kicked it to the ground, and dropped over the wall and out into the world. Most of the fiends were still at the front gate, but Roger had to take out a couple that had walked along the wall to the side of the yard. When he was sure that most of his path was clear, he held up the keys they picked up from the BCRC building and began to make his way through the surrounding yards.
Jonathan was already awake when the others started to wake up the following morning. He had taken blood samples from Emalynn, per her request, throughout the night. His only real findings were that her blood cells were dying rapidly. She asked him to do any tests he needed to in order to better understand this infection and how to beat it, yet he couldn"t bring himself to use her body for research. Blood samples were almost too much for him to handle.
"When I turn, feel free to do any tests you need to," she said calmly. Most of her time had been spent crying. The young woman didn"t want to die. There were a few moments, such as this, where she stopped crying and tried to be strong.
"Absolutely not," Jonathan firmly replied.
"Why? You need to understand them right?"
"No, there are plenty of willing partic.i.p.ants out in the streets, and I am really not sure at this time what I would look for."
"You"re not going to let me roam about, are you? You know as well as I do that I won"t be me anymore." Saying this made her realize how stupid she was for running after Bradley. "Don"t let me be one of them. If you can"t do it, Guillermo can."
"Then he will have to. I could not hurt you, Ema, alive or otherwise." he touched her skin. It was no longer warm and soft. Her body temperature had rapidly declined throughout the night, and her skin was becoming dry and rough.
"All the pain is gone. I guess it won"t be long now," Before Jonathan could say anything, she continued talking. "Take me outside. I want to see the sun and the sky."
"Ok. Wait here," he said without any hesitation.
Jonathan went out to the dining room to talk to Deacon and Sophia. He let them know that Emalynn had wanted to go outside, and that he was going to make up a nice place for her to lie down comfortably. Both of them agreed that being outside would be for the best.
"Hey Guillermo," he said as he walked out from the garage and into the front yard. "I am bringing Ema out. Honoring her last request. Well, second to last. Do you want to get Roger and let him know?"
"Roger left yesterday. Said he was responsible for Bradley and Tyson getting killed. He couldn"t take it anymore."
Jonathan took a moment for this to register. "Oh, ok. Well, do not go get him. Anyway, Ema will need to be-taken care of when the time comes." A tear broke through and ran down his face as he said this.
"Oh G.o.d. I hadn"t thought of that. You want me to do it? I"m not sure I can. She is part of my family now, so are you."
"Thanks, that means a lot to me. Still, we cannot let her become one of them."
It took him a moment to respond. He looked as though he was pleading with himself to not have to be the one. "I"ll do it, but only after she"s gone for sure. Don"t think for a second that I want to be the one, though."
"Of course not," Jonathan replied.
As Jonathan carried Emalynn out into the sun, the warm breeze brushed gently against her face. This caused her pain as the wind felt hot against her skin, yet she would deal with it for the chance to die out in the sun. Her skin was pale, and her eyes were gray. From her looks, there was no life left in this young woman.
"The picnic basket is nice," she said. Her voice was not much more than an exhausted whisper.
"I hoped you would like it. I have some sandwiches and drinks in here, if you are interested."
"I"m not hungry. I don"t think I could eat anyway. What do you have in there to drink?"
"Chardonnay," he responded uncertainly. "2002. I do not know if that is good or not. My parents did not really drink very often, so they probably just grabbed what looked good at the time."
"I"ve never had wine before. I tried a beer one time at a party. Tasted like what I would imagine p.i.s.s with just a hint of dirty bath water would taste like," She tried to laugh, but began to cough.
Jonathan held her while she coughed, patting her on the back. "It is probably a bit early for alcohol, but how about we give it a try," he said once her coughing fit had pa.s.sed and he"d opened the wine bottle. It may have been early for wine, but Jonathan felt the time of day didn"t matter in their current situation.
He had poured them each a gla.s.s of the white wine and helped Emalynn take a drink of hers. The initial taste was a little bitter, and he began to think that wine was a bad idea. Emalynn seemed to enjoy the taste a little more though.
"It"s pretty good, and definitely too early," she said, her voice was a little less raspy, but it still sounded pretty harsh.
"So tell me about this party. I guess I did not picture you as a wild party girl," he said playfully.
"Oh stop it," she pushed him weakly. "Some friends of mine were invited to a party one weekend and wanted me to go, as well. Being the only party I"ve ever been to it was probably pretty typical." Her breathing was short and forced as she spoke.
"If it is painful to talk you do not have to." Jonathan looked into her eyes and touched her face; she reached up and placed her hand on top of his.
"I"m having a good time. Anyway, it was just a bunch of teens drinking beer while some boy"s parents were away for the weekend. It wasn"t really like how you see parties in movies. Everyone was sitting around, just relaxing and laughing...you know, just having a good time. Everyone else there was much older than we were.
"The guy who was throwing the party asked me to have a beer with him. It tasted so bad. He never tried anything, but I thought he would. Anyway I panicked, called my mom to come get me, and went home. How about you? You ever been partying?"
"No. My parents barely let us out of the house. Study study study. That is all I have done my whole life. To be a great biologist in a world that has fallen apart." He laid back and looked up at the sky.
"You do know that it will be you who makes this world a place people can live in again, right?" For the first time since yesterday, Jonathan caught a brief glimpse of life in her dying eyes. This had made him feel as though hope had been injected directly into his veins.
"Yeah, as long as you believe in me, then there will be no stopping me." He smiled, sat up just enough to kiss her cold forehead but was taken by surprise as she pulled him to her lips.
Emalynn"s lips were cold and dry and tasted of the bitter sweet Chardonnay. Jonathan found the wine to be much more appealing this way. If things had been different, if she had not been dying, he would take her. Here on the gra.s.s of his front lawn, he would take her.
Instead, after their kiss, he laid down on his back with Emalynn resting on his chest. His heart beating faster than ever.
"I"ll believe in you long after I"ve left this world. You know, I think it"s cute how you hardly ever use words like adon"t" and acan"t". You"re English is a little more...proper then mine is."
"Contractions. One thing my parents were big on. My dad would always say, aYou can"t use contractions because they make you sound lazy." Even though he used them from time to time."
The hours had pa.s.sed by while they both lay awake on the front lawn watching the sun raise high above in the cloudless sky. The silence was disrupted by the occasional cough or sob from Emalynn. The sound of the door in the garage reminded Jonathan that this was not the perfect summer day, and that they were not alone.
"I think that is the others coming out to see you," he said as he ran his fingers through her hair.
"Yeah, it will be nice to say goodbye to them all," said Emalynn slowly. Jonathan couldn"t tell if her face was wet from tears or sweat.
Jonathan wiped away a tear from his own eye and held back more as he tried to stay strong for her, but he wanted to just hold her and cry. Footsteps alerted him that now would be a bad time for that, and he sat up just enough to see who was walking toward them.
"Hi," Sophia said, as she walked across the gra.s.s. She was followed by Deacon, Guillermo, and the twins.
They talked for several hours, laughing for a while, then crying, then laughing some more. Emalynn tried her best to spend a little time with everyone. She played with the twins and their action figures. Sophia sat with her so they could have "girl talk". Their giggling (and Emalynn"s coughing) could be heard in the garage where Jonathan stood watching. Emalynn even talked to Guillermo using the little bit of Spanish that she had remembered from school.
"The sun is beginning to set. Do you want to stay out here longer, or do you want to go back inside?" Jonathan asked as he knelt beside her. Everyone else had said their goodbyes and went inside, hoping they would not have to see what would inevitably happen.
"Let"s watch the sun set together. It will be like a romantic date," she pulled him down on the blanket next to her, put her arm around his, and laid her head on his chest again.
Jonathan opened his eyes. He was cold, the temperature dropped to the sixties after the sun went down, and he felt as though he had a gallon of p.i.s.s in his bladder. As the sleep washed away in the morning light, he remembered where he was.
The weight on his leg, and the tingling sensation in it, suggested that Emalynn must have used it as a pillow last night. Then he was. .h.i.t with the thought that maybe she was eating his leg. He sat up quickly to check on her.
"She"s alright," Guillermo said calmly. He was leaning up against the tree watching the sky as the morning light flooded in ahead of the sun. "You fell asleep right after the sun set last night. She asked that I watch over you so you can sleep."
"How long did you talk to her?"
"Long enough. She told me that she wanted me to be there when she changed into a fiend, and that I"m supposed to put a stop to it. She said it would be too hard for you. I"ve been here all night, waiting for it to happen, but she is really hanging in there. She"s a tough one."
"Yeah, she is," Jonathan agreed as he looked down at her. She looked lifeless and cold, yet her beauty had not faded.
The two let Emalynn sleep while they watched the sun rise that morning. She tossed and turned in her sleep, and she would go almost a minute at times where she would not breathe. They knew it wouldn"t be long.